Genesis 32
32
Chapter 32
Jacob's journey home
1Jacob continued on his journey to his father's house. On his way the angels of God met him. #32:1 Jacob had seen the angels of God before. See Genesis 28:12. Now God sent his angels to meet Jacob again, to show that he was with Jacob. 2When Jacob saw them, he said, ‘This is where God's army has put up their tents!’ So he called that place Mahanaim.
3Jacob sent men with a message to his brother Esau. Esau was living in the land of Seir, also called Edom. 4Jacob told his men, ‘This is what you must say to my master Esau: Your servant Jacob says, “I have been staying with Laban until now. 5I have cows, donkeys, sheep and goats. I have male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord so that you will be happy with me.” ’
6When the men returned, they said to Jacob, ‘We went to your brother Esau. Now he is coming to meet you and he has 400 men with him.’ 7Jacob was very frightened and upset when he heard this. So he separated his people into two groups. He also separated his animals. 8He thought, ‘If Esau attacks one group, the other group may run away safely.’
9Then Jacob prayed, ‘God of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac, Lord, you said to me, “Go back to your country and to your relatives. I will do good things for you there.” 10You have always loved me. You have continued to be kind to me. I do not deserve this. When I crossed the Jordan River to go to Haran, I only had my stick. But now I can make two big groups of people and animals. 11I pray that you will save me from the power of my brother Esau. I am afraid that he will come and attack me. He may also attack my family. 12But you have said, “I will give you many good things. I will give you so many descendants that nobody will be able to count them. They will be as many as the pieces of sand on the shore of the sea.” ’ #32:12 See Genesis 28:14.
13Jacob stayed in that place for the night. He chose some of his animals as a gift for Esau. 14He chose 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep. 15He also chose 30 female camels, with their young ones, 40 cows and ten bulls, 20 female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16He told his servants to take care of them. He separated each group of animals from the other groups. Jacob said to his servants, ‘Go in front of me. Keep some space between each group of animals.’ 17He told the servant who led the first group of animals, ‘When my brother Esau meets you, he may ask, “Who do you belong to? Where are you going? Who do all these animals belong to?” 18Then you must say, “They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift that he has sent to my lord Esau. Jacob himself is coming behind us.” ’ 19Jacob also told the servants who led the other groups of animals, as well as the servants who followed behind them, ‘You are to say the same thing to Esau, when you meet him. 20You must also say “Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.” ’
Jacob thought, ‘Esau will be happy to receive my gifts. He will no longer be angry with me. Then, when I meet him, he will not hurt me.’ 21So Jacob sent the men with his gifts to go on to meet Esau. But he himself stayed in that place for the night.
22During the night Jacob took with him his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons. They went across the Jabbok river where there was a place to cross. #32:22 This part of the Jabbok river was not very deep. It was about 20 miles north of the Dead Sea. 23After Jacob had sent his family across, he also sent all his things across the stream. 24Then Jacob was alone. A man came and fought with him for a long time. #32:24 God came to Jacob as an angel. See Hosea 12:4-5. They continued until dawn.
25The man saw that he was not winning the fight against Jacob. So he hit Jacob's hip while they were fighting. #32:25 The hip is the top of a person's leg, where it joins his body. In that way, Jacob's hip moved out of its proper place. 26Then the man said to Jacob, ‘Now let me go because dawn has come.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’
27The man asked Jacob, ‘What is your name?’ Jacob replied, ‘My name is Jacob.’ 28Then the man said, ‘Your name will not be Jacob any longer. Your name will now be Israel. #32:28 Israel probably means ‘he fights with God’. God changed Jacob's name to give him a new beginning. That is because you have fought with God and you have fought with men. And you have won!’
29Then Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But the man said, ‘Why do you want to know my name?’ Then he blessed Jacob in that place. 30So Jacob called the place Peniel. #32:30 Peniel means ‘face of God’. He said, ‘I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive!’
31The sun rose in the sky as Jacob passed through Peniel. He could not walk properly because of his hip.
32Even today, the Israelite people do not eat the meat of an animal where it joins to the hip. This is because God touched Jacob's hip. #32:32 The Israelites were the descendants of Jacob, who was now called Israel. Jacob's 12 sons became the ancestors of Israel's 12 tribes.
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Genesis 32
32
1Jacob went on his way and some angels of God came to meet him. 2When he saw them he said, “This must be God's camp!” He named the place “Two Camps.”
3He sent messengers on ahead to meet his brother Esau who was living in the region of Seir in the country of Edom. 4He told them, “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau. Your servant Jacob sends you this message. I've been staying with Laban up till now, 5and I have cattle and donkeys and sheep and goats, and male and female slaves. I've sent these messengers to explain this to you my lord, hoping you'll be pleased to see me.”
6The messengers returned to Jacob and told him, “Your brother Esau is coming to meet you with 400 armed men!” 7When Jacob heard this, he was absolutely terrified. He split all the people with him, along with the sheep, goats, cattle, and camels, into two groups, 8saying to himself, “If Esau comes and destroys one group, the other one can get away.”
9Jacob prayed, “God of my grandfather Abraham, God of my father Isaac! Lord, you were the one who told me, ‘Return to your own country and your family home, and I will treat you well.’ 10I don't deserve all the trustworthy love and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I crossed the Jordan years ago#32:10. “Years ago”: supplied for clarity. with just my walking stick, and now I have two large camps. 11Please save me from my brother; defend me from Esau! I'm terrified that he's coming to attack me, my wives, and my children. 12You yourself told me, ‘I will definitely treat you well. I will make your descendants as numerous as the sand of the seashore—too many to count.’”
13Jacob stayed the night there. Then he picked out animals as a gift to his brother Esau: 14200 female goats, 20 male goats; 200 ewes, 20 rams; 1530 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls; 20 female donkeys, 10 male donkeys. 16He put his servants in charge of each of the separate herds and told them, “Go on ahead of me, and keep a good distance between the herds.”
17He gave these instructions to those with the first herd: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who is your master, and where are you going, and whose are these animals with you?’ 18you are to say to him, ‘Your servant Jacob sends these as a gift to my lord Esau, and he's following us.’” 19He gave the same instructions to those with the second and third and all the subsequent herds, telling them, “This is what you are to say to Esau when he meets you. 20You must also tell him, ‘Your servant Jacob is right behind us.’”
Jacob said to himself, “Maybe by sending these gifts on ahead Esau won't be angry with me and when I meet him he'll be kind to me.” 21So the gifts went on ahead while Jacob spent the night at the camp.
22He got up during the night and took his two wives and the two personal maids and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River at the ford. 23After helping them cross he also sent over everything that belonged to him. 24But Jacob stayed there alone. A man came and wrestled with him until dawn. 25When the man realized he couldn't beat Jacob, he hit Jacob's hip socket and put it out of joint as he wrestled with him.
26Then the man said, “Let me go because it's almost dawn.”
“I won't let you go unless you bless me,” Jacob replied.
27“What's your name?” the man asked.
“Jacob,” he replied.
28“Jacob will no longer be your name,” said the man. “Instead you will be called Israel, because you fought with God and with men and you won.”
29“Please tell me your name,” Jacob asked.
“Why do you ask me my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
30Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “I saw God face to face and I'm still alive!” 31The sun came up as Jacob left Peniel, limping along because of his damaged hip. 32(That's why, even today, Israelites don't eat the thigh tendon attached to the hip socket, because that's where the man hit Jacob's hip socket.)
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com